Fishing Report Week Ending 7/22/18

King George.

That's it. That's the last retained Kenai king for the 2018 season and I couldn't be happier that it was with my good friend, and AlCan running buddy, George French. George and I have had a lot of firsts together, but this will be his first, last...

How was the week? Well, after Tuesday the river became catch and release for king salmon and I would say the fishing was fair. We had bites every trip, but not everyone caught a king. The amazing thing to me is that everyone was okay with that (at least that's what they all told me).

Here's Team Florida after a day on the water. That's Jimmie, George, Rodney, and William. It was a pleasure to fish and swap a few stories with you guys.

Here's Team New Hampshire. That's Dave, Derek, and Tim. This is a quality family spending quality time together. As Will Jahrig would say, the least important part of fishing is fishing...

After staying in our cabins a few years ago, I finally got to spend a day on the water with Cheryl and Doug (Jane jumped in for the photo). I look forward to our silver trip in 2019. 

I also had the pleasure to spend three days on the water with John and Kris. They are both teachers from the town I grew up in. That's Kris in the back of the boat fighting a salmon.

And, here she is posing with one of two pink salmon she caught. If your name is Gary Blinn, I know you'll be happy to hear this news so early in the year.

Here's John releasing a king. Hey guys, thanks for your patience and for wanting to king fish when the river became catch and release. Fishing wasn't always good during your stay, but your approach and attitudes were second to none. 

This is my old college buddy Ray with a nice Kenai king release. This guy does a lot of fishing and it was great to see him so excited with his first ever Kenai king.

This photo is a little out sequence, but this is a 45-50lb king that Rodney released. This is the largest fish of the year in my boat so far, but we still have one week to go. 

Finally, I'll end this post with a red salmon report. Fishing has definitely been picking up. There have been steady pulses of reds coming through with most anglers catching their limit. This morning, we definitely had a nice pulse. Here's part of my dipnet crew. Many of you may recognize this young man as Alec Laflamme. Alec has been fishing with me for over fifteen years and holds my boat record for the largest fish ever caught. When he was 14 years old he landed a behemoth of a king weighing 84lbs. Great kid, and many great times.

Well, that's it. I've got a full week ahead of fishing and who knows how it will turn out. Kings, reds, trout, humpies, I only know whatever it is it will be doing it at 100%...

See you next week.

Beaver Creek Cabins & Guide Service